SEVEN GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS WHO ARE DIVORCED/SEPARATED AND SHARING CUSTODY OF CHILDREN DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
From the leaders of groups that deal with families in crisis: American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Susan Myres, President of American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) Dr. Matt Sullivan, President of Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) Annette Burns, AAML and Former President of AFCC Yasmine Mehmet, AAML Kim Bonuomo, AAML Nancy Kellman, AAML […]
2020: Reflections and Perspectives on the Criminal Justice System as It Concerns Alcohol and Drugs
Recently, the Lafayette County Court initiated its new OWI Court, a program intended to provide additional services to address the issue of serial offenders of the Wisconsin drunk driving laws. With the passage into the third decade of this century, I began to reflect on how the criminal justice system is dealing with the alcohol […]
Do Millennials Need Lawyers?
Have you ever had a Millennial tell you that you no longer need to do something the way you’ve always done it because it is now available online? Millennials do everything online from banking and socializing to ordering groceries and getting their college educations. Usually from their cell phones, no less! This ambitious group of […]
Securing Your Future? A New Law Could Affect Your Retirement
Somewhere in Washington D.C. is a government agency devoted to brainstorming creative acronyms for lawmakers to slap on bills for easy reference and slick marketing. Case-in-point: the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act” or “SECURE Act”. Enacted on December 20, 2019, the SECURE Act did a whole lot that had very little to […]
Pitch Perfect: The Rules of Record Keeping and Record Tossing
Take it from me, who lives in one – there’s nothing like a small house to discourage hoarding. Every day is a battle waged over a simple question: me or it, which stays? But cleaning out the house of a deceased love one is just as difficult. At some level, working through knick-knacks, record collections, […]
Grandparent’s Rights
On May 31, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued the latest in a series of cases addressing the complicated issue of grandparent rights to visitation. Family court advocates throughout the state hoped the ruling would bring clarity to the question. They were disappointed. Grandparent visitation cases come about because two well- established principles in the law […]
CBD – A New Product – Raises Interesting Legal Issues
The other day as I walked on the Monroe Square, I passed three stores within a half block of each other selling CBD oil products. It seems like CBD oil is all the rage these days and there are many local farmers and small business people that are looking at it as a new opportunity […]
Easing Grief: Simple But Important Steps Can Help Soften Death’s Blow
The death of a family member or loved one, especially one that is sudden and unexpected, can elicit a profoundly emotional response among those who survive. The days following the death see a combination of shock, sadness, laughter and tears.Ideally, family and friends can gather in common support, share stories, and, together, begin the long […]
From Beer to Eternity: What’s the Plan?
If I have one wish for budding entrepreneurs, it’s that you’ll never wake up at 2:30 in the morning and start thinking about your new business. There is no fear or failure that does not seem 1,000 times worse at 2:30 in the morning than it does in the bright of day, and starting a […]
The Search For A Child’s “Best Interests”
“Best interests of the child.” Wisconsin law is peppered with this phrase, and it is the guiding principle for judges when they make decisions affecting the child’s welfare. However, it is not always clear where “best interests” lie. One recent Wisconsin Court of Appeals case illustrates how hard it can be to protect a child’s […]